I put my phone in recovery mode because I wanted to try to free up space. It seems that Activation Lock is now broken?????????/ How? It does not prompt me to enter a previous persons apple id and password to activate. It just automatically activates itself. I have Find My Iphone turned on and signed in with my apple id but each time i "erase content and settings" it does not prompt me for my apple id and password to activate. What did I do?
iPhone 4S, iOS 7.1.2
When you used the 'Erase All Content & Settings' option under Settings > General > Reset, that wipes the device clean and sets it up as new without Activation Lock. That's why it makes you put in your Apple ID password, for whatever Apple ID is used on the device under Settings > iCloud.
The problem is it does not make me put in my Apple ID upon setup.
What happens if a thief uses Recovery or DFU mode? That's what I did (recovery mode) and it did not prompt me for activation lock. The linked photo is gone.
jml.jordan2010 wrote:
When you used the 'Erase All Content & Settings' option under Settings > General > Reset, that wipes the device clean and sets it up as new without Activation Lock. That's why it makes you put in your Apple ID password, for whatever Apple ID is used on the device under Settings > iCloud.
The problem is it does not make me put in my Apple ID upon setup.
Correct. Because you had to put your AppleID & Password in to erase it.
Let me try to explain this better:
Activation Lock is designed to prevent someone from erasing or setting up your device. Since you were prompted to enter your Apple ID and password when you went to Erase All Content and Settings, this is where the thief would get stuck and would be unable to erase your device. However, if you give approval for the erase (by entering the password), you will not also be asked for the password when you set it up. If the thief manages to restore without having to enter your password (that would be by using Recovery Mode), then you would be prompted for the password when trying to set it up.
I understand that you're saying you were not prompted for the password upon setting up after using Recovery Mode, but that is because you authorized the restore by entering your Apple ID and passcode in the Erase menu of Settings, and disabled Activation Lock, as shown in your second post in this thread.
Key questions!!!
Are you the original owner? Have you previously linked it successfully to your iTunes computer e.g. to back up?
If yes, any problem of wrong process choices can be undone and people here will eventually help you.
If no, then it's highly likely that there is an ownership-of-the-phone issue at play. This is a security matter and you won't resolve it.
jml.jordan2010 wrote:
When you used the 'Erase All Content & Settings' option under Settings > General > Reset, that wipes the device clean and sets it up as new without Activation Lock. That's why it makes you put in your Apple ID password, for whatever Apple ID is used on the device under Settings > iCloud.
The problem is it does not make me put in my Apple ID upon setup.
That's not a problem. That's how it is supposed to work. When you have Find My iPhone enabled, and when you erase the device properly (e.g., you use the Erase All Content & Settings option), the FMiP & Activation Lock are REMOVED once you enter your Apple ID password to authorize the process.
Without the Apple ID & password, any other method of erasing the device (e.g., Recovery Mode or DFU Mode) does NOT remove Activation Lock. When that happens, you'll have the screen you posted that requires the Apple ID & Password to be entered.
If you erase the device using Erase All Content & Settings or iTunes Restore (which requires you to turn off FMiP first) or the FMiP remote wipe & remove from account, you remove Activation Lock.
If you erase the device using Recovery Mode or DFU Mode or the Remote Wipe option via Find My iPhone, you do not remove the Activation Lock.
A thief will not have access to your Apple ID password, unless you kept that in a Note on the iPhone.
Nothing is wrong with this system. It's working as designed.
I hope this clears up your confusion.
Look at post number two. Look at my username. I am the original owner.
I just have questions about activation lock. Yes, it should be linked to my iCloud account to my phone if that is what you are asking.
I am on a trip right now. I will get back to this thread in a couple days. Thank you all for being so helpful. I will continue to post after my trip about this topic.
Reporting Back: I did recovery mode once again and made sure I was signed out of itunes with my apple id. That is when I encountered the activation lock screen so it is working as it should! The problem that I had was that I was putting it into recovery mode and then set my phone up while I was already signed into Itunes, which is why it did not prompt me for the activation screen.
Activation Lock is working!
Yes.. I say Find my Iphone is useless anyway.... By erasing your entire iphone (Formating) everything will be gone..it is done by pressing home key and power key.. (Safe mode). there may another mode as well ... ?? and thief can install new fresh ios by passing your so-called restrictive icloud password .. no help .. later it ask icloud password n user name .. thief is clever .he has already created his own icloud details . newly created or old one .. he puts this and stolen iphone comes in operational condition smoothly... Apple genius don't think about this...
Don't know where you got your information, but it's wrong. There is no "safe mode" on the iPhone, and the procedure you describe with the buttons is nothing more than a force reboot of the iPhone, and no content gets erased. If the thief reinstalled iOS, they would have to put in the owner's Apple ID and password. They can NOT put in their own.
Activation Lock Broken IOS 7.1.2
